ATLANTA — The Knicks didn’t view Donovan Mitchell as good enough to carry a team by himself.
About a year after the Knicks were outbid in their pursuit for Mitchell, Scott Perry, the team’s former general manager, cited Mitchell’s lack of playoff success to explain why New York stopped short of Utah’s demands.
“Obviously we made a push to trade for him,” Perry said on a recent episode of “The Hoop Genius” podcast. “But it was going to be done within reason. He was a good player but he needed more around him to win. Because if he was that singular force, Utah probably would’ve been in the conference finals if he were that singular force. … But he wasn’t that singular force. That’s not a criticism against him. That’s just an evaluation that you must make.”
Perry, whose departure from the Knicks in the summer was called a “mutual decision,” implied the Jazz deal would’ve hollowed New York’s roster and emptied its asset chest.
“[Mitchell’s] an excellent basketball player. Multi-year All-Star. Tremendous young man. New York kid,” Perry said. “But you got to ask yourself, if the other team you’re trading with is wanting to take two-thirds or three-quarters of all your young talent, and all of your draft capital, is what’s left behind going to good enough for you to win rather than hold on to what you have and be a little patient?”
Mitchell was ultimately dealt to Cleveland for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three first-round picks and two pick swaps.
He led the Cavs to the fourth seed last season but lost to the Knicks in the opening round, with Mitchell getting outplayed by Jalen Brunson.
It represented the fourth time in five years that Mitchell failed to get out of the first round.
The Knicks, meanwhile, kept their assets and remain in the market for a star trade.
Interestingly, Mitchell is a potential target after he declined to sign an extension with the Cavaliers in the offseason.
Mitchell, 27, who can become a free agent in 2025, has stated he would welcome a return home.
He grew up in the Westchester area and played his AAU ball in Manhattan.
But Perry, who was an executive with the Pistons during their second golden era of the 2000s, preached caution and patience.
“I know the fanbase — people want names. But I’m here to tell you — and maybe my thinking is a little skewed by that experience in Detroit all those years with ‘no names,’ ” Perry said. “But people forget. We went to six straight conference finals, two finals in a row with ‘no names.’ We beat you with depth and we were very talented. I’m not saying you can do that every time. Would you love to have a Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or [Nikola] Jokic? Yeah, that might make it easier to build around. But it’s not the only way to build and win.”
Perry was the Knicks GM for six seasons but had more power and sway under former team president Steve Mills.
His draft hits included Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett, while the big miss was Kevin Knox.
Perry called Robinson — who was drafted in the second round of 2018 after dropping out of college — his greatest success story.
“He is the player that I’m probably most proud of in my 23-year career. Understanding where he came from,” Perry said. “Mitchell wouldn’t say two words when we first got him. Now, at one point in New York, he was hosting his own segment on [the Knicks website] where you couldn’t keep him quiet. So to see that growth, and he’s been the starting center for five years. So he’s become a great story.”
Perry also said Robinson is a good fit for New York because he’s unconcerned with attention.
“Everybody can’t play there. Mitchell could really function there because he’s oblivious to the outside noise. Mitchell’s really the young country guy. And he wants his space,” Perry said. “So he was someone who wasn’t attracted to the bright lights. He just needed a stable organization and stable people around him to help him grow and teach him how to become a professional.”
Perry was also a big part of trading Kristaps Porzingis, a deal that created the cap space for the failed pursuits of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Perry and Mills pivoted that 2019 summer to short-term contracts, agreeing to sign Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson and Marcus Morris.
“So for us, if we don’t get Kevin or Kyrie, or one or the other, or neither, which is what happened — what are we going to do?” Perry said. “We had already acquired some assets in some other trades in previous two years. I wanted to get some veteran players in there to help young guys like RJ and Mitchell to play more meaningful basketball, meaning we‘re a team good enough to at least be pushing for a playoff position for the final week or two, at minimum.”
The Knicks were bad again, however.
Both Mills and coach David Fizdale were fired.
Rose took over and Perry remained in the GM position, though below executive William Wesley in the pecking order.
Their first big hire was Tom Thibodeau.
“We wanted to be a tougher team, we wanted to be a good defensive team, and we wanted to be a very physical team. That was important to us. And those are Tom Thibodeau’s strengths,” Perry said.
Perry, 59, said he’s living in Florida and hopes to return to basketball after a break.
He was also named an analyst for ESPN’s ‘NBA Today.’
“It was just time for me to kind of get a different look. Get away a little bit. I still got a lot of energy and basketball left in me. But the good thing that came out of everything —– when I went to New York, the Knicks weren’t in a good place, at all. To put it mildly,” Perry said. “I feel really good that after being there six years, that upon leaving, it was a good time to leave because the team is in a good place. It’s stable. … So left it in a good space. It was a good time to move on.”
